


Ready, Aim, Fire

by JeanKirsnickerdoodle



Category: Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell, Simon Snow & Related Fandoms
Genre: Also Agatha is gay, Also I'm procrastinating on a huge project rn, Baz Pitch - Freeform, Boyf Riends Cameo, Confederate!Baz, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, I came up with this in US History class, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mutual Pining, Simon Snow - Freeform, Simon and Micah are brothers, Simon gets aNGRY, Snk Cameo, Swearing, Union!Simon, cause why not, civil war!au, yayy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-14 07:27:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14131107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeanKirsnickerdoodle/pseuds/JeanKirsnickerdoodle
Summary: Union soldier Simon Snow has only ever known one thing: War. In the beginning, Simon had to suffer through watching his friends, his comrades, die in the field of battle. Now, with almost nobody left, all Simon feels is detached.  But what happens when he begins to notice the way Confederate  Baz Pitch's smile makes him feel a little less  alone?ON HIATUS





	1. Ready

Shots fired in rapid succession as Union soldier Simon Snow hit the ground, hands over his head. Simon squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the dirt and grit stuck in his eyelashes, and prayed that their defenses would hold up, and that General Grant knew what he was doing. Chancing a glance upwards, Simon cautiously opened his eyes to see the general sitting proud on his horse, White Star, confidently shouting orders to the men in the field.

" _Fire on them, men! Make them feel the anger of all creation!"_

Simon glanced over at his best friend and fellow comrade, Penn. The two shared alarmed glances as the gunfire increased in sound and speed.

" _When does our group enter the field?"_ Penn yelled, Simon straining to hear over the cried of wounded soldiers, and the consistent _Pop! Pop! Pop!_ of the guns.

" _After Barrack 5, I think!"_ Simon cried back, pressing his palms against his ears in a desperate attempt to muffle the noises of battle.

Receiving no reply from Penn, Simon turned his face back into the hard dirt floor of their hideout in a desperate attempt to block out his surroundings. _Just don't focus on it, Si,_ He told himself. _In a few days you'll be home, back with Mom, Dad, and Micah, and you can take a chance to relax and-_

Simon's internal pep talk was suddenly interrupted by a low gasp from Penn to his right. Simon's head whipped around, afraid Penn had been hit somehow. However, he instead saw Penn peeking over the walls of their shabby hideout, eyes wide and horrified. Simon hissed, " _Penn!_ What are you doing? You could get shot and ki-" Penn cut Simon off with a whisper, "Simon _... Look."_ Simon frowned in concern, and decided to brave a glance over their defenses. He raised himself up on his elbows, inch by inch, until reaching a hole in the wall.

Complete carnage greeted him. Everywhere Simon looked he saw bodies on the ground  - the blue uniforms of the Union, the gray of the Confederacy. Entire limbs appeared to have been blown off, and Simon stifled a gag as he saw a decapitated head on the ground nearby. Blood was spattered almost everywhere Simon could see, and across the forest clearing he saw hundreds of Confederate soldiers firing over at them. For every soldier General Grant or his soldiers shot down, nearly ten more seemed to take their place. Simon felt his jaw drop as he was filled with a sense of complete and utter hopelessness.

Suddenly, Simon felt a _whack!_ on his shoulder, and he flinched and cried out before he could stop himself. "Simon! The general wants us to move out, now! Lee's overwhelming our forces!" Simon looked up into the eyes of his brother, Micah, and let out a curse. "Penn! Let's go!" Penn nodded and scrambled up, sprinting to catch up with Simon and Micah as they dodged through the trees, narrowly escaping enemy bullets.

As he ran, Simon glanced through the trees, searching for any Confederate soldiers that could poise a threat to the remainder of the Union army. Once or twice he thought he caught a slight glimpse of gray uniform, but it quickly disappeared as Simon, Penn, Micah, and the rest of their barrack ran for their lives.

 

* * *

 

Simon polished off a canteen of water and sat back with a sigh. The Union army had run for hours, nearly until daybreak. Now, the remaining barracks slept, ate, and awaited General Grant's orders.

Simon was snapped out of his thoughts by a question from Penn. "What do you think Grant's gonna have us do next?" Penn asked softly, tracing shapes into the dirt floor beneath them with a branch.

Micah replied, "I don't know, but if I were him, I would start talking with the other generals; find out a way to snake back around and hit the Confederacy from behind. We can't stop until we win this war. Too many people have died for the cause - giving up now would just be ignoring that. We can't give up until we win."

The three comrades sat in silence for a moment, pondering Micah's words. Simon found himself agreeing with Micah - both sides had been fighting too long to just up and surrender. The North _had_ to win this war, so that they could stop all the fucked up shit in the South from spreading.

Penn whispered softly, "Don't you guys get tired of it all, though?" Simon and Micah looked at their friend, startled. "What do you mean?" Simon asked, knowing exactly what Penn meant.

"It's just... don't you get tired of all of this?" Penn gestured wildly around them. "The running, the fighting, living off stale crackers and beef jerky. Watching our friends _die_ and not being able to do anything about it. Aren't you just sick of it?"

Simon glanced at Micah with wide eyes, finding the expression mirrored back at him.

"I mean... yeah, sometimes. But it's all worth it, isn't it? Stopping slavery, winning this war - it'll all be worth it in the end," Simon replied.

Penn nodded sullenly, looking down at his doodles. "I guess, but... _god,_ Si, I just wanna go home. I - I just want this to all be over." Penn's voice broke and he hunched over, his body wracked with sobs.

Simon watched silently, wanting desperately to help, but not knowing how. Micah, however, slid off the log, knelt next to Penn, and wrapped his arms around their friend's skinny frame. "We know, dude, believe me. I want to go home, too."

Micah's eyes connected with Simon's, and Simon took in a deep breath. "I'm - I'm gonna go. To bed. Yeah. Feel better, Penn."

With an awkward pat on Penn's head, and a whispered " _Thank you_ " to Micah, Simon headed off to his hammock.

  
He didn't sleep well that night.


	2. Chapter 2

Baz sat in the darkness of the trees just off the Confederate camp grounds, looking around. He was surrounded by joyous festivities and happy drunkards, celebrating their win from the day before. Baz himself had a pint of whiskey in his hands, but neglected to join in the festivities, content to just watch. He chuckled as he watched his comrades make fools of themselves, high off their victory.

Suddenly Agatha, a Confederate nurse as well as a close friend of Baz's, bounded up to him. " _BASIL!!!"_ She cheered, looping an arm around his shoulders and leaning into him, obviously drunk.

"I told you never to call me that," Baz grumbled, shrugging her arm off his shoulders. However, he couldn't fight back a small smile as his usually stoic friend giggled and swayed on her feet.

"What- _ever_ , grumpy! What do you think you're doing sitting on the sidelines all depressed? Come dance with me!" Agatha demanded, trying to pull Baz up onto his feet, but instead falling into the sand.

"Look at you, Ag. Look at yourself," Baz said, and gestured to where she lay, giggling, in the dirt. "In 24 hours we're either gonna be marching or fighting for our lives again. What's the point of getting shitfaced?"

Agatha sat up, leaves in her hair. "And in 24 hours I'll either be lugging scalpels and saws while I march with a bunch of sweaty soldiers, or I'll be trying my hardest to keep said sweaty soldiers alive. Why _not_ get shitfaced?" She countered.

Baz pondered that for a moment, hating the fact that she kind of had a point. Agatha saw him giving in and tugged on his sleeves. " _Please_ , Baz? Come dance with meee!!" She whined, attempting again to pull him onto his feet, this time succeeding.

Baz sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. "I suppose you're right... Plus, what kind of person would I be if I passed up an opportunity to see the infamous Agatha Wellbelove make a fool of herself?" Agatha beamed and clapped her hands, opening her mouth to speak, but Baz cut her off.  " _One_ dance, Ag, got it? _Only one dance._ "

Agatha nodded furiously, saying, "Only one dance, I hear you, Baz; now let's GO!" Agatha grabbed his hands and began to drag Baz nearer to the fire, babbling about how, "Reiner stole some new type of beer from a Union outpost a while back" and "Annie gave me some and I feel like I'm on FIRE, Baz, you have to try this shit!"

Baz scoffed softly and let himself be dragged along by Agatha.

 

* * *

Later that night, Baz lay softly in his cot, listening to the sounds of numerous soldiers and nurses sleeping off their hangovers. He was exhausted from dancing for hours on end, despite his insistent, "Only one more dance, Agatha, you hear me?" Somehow the girl had managed to rope him into about seventeen dances, finally relenting when Baz refused to leave his log for anything except sleep.

As much as he wanted to succumb to blissful sleep, Baz was kept awake by the thoughts whirring around in his head.

Happy as he was that the South had won against the Union, Baz couldn't help but wonder if he was on the right side.

_Do I really believe in what I'm fighting for? Or did I really just join cause that's what Pa wanted?_ Baz asked himself, not for the first time. Because as much as Baz furiously denied it, deep down he knew he believed more in the North's philosophy than the South's.

Baz reflected back on the battle before. The spray of blood, the Union uniforms on the ground. Limbs ripped off, stained clothing, the sound of thousands of soldier marching to their deaths.

And the icy blue of eyes, peeking out at him from in between the trees before they quickly disappeared.

Eyes he knew belonged to a Union soldier.

Eyes he couldn't stop thinking about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BAZ IS INTRODUCED  
> I HOPE I DIDN'T DISAPPOINT YOU ALL
> 
> Okay so  
> Originally my plan was to make Agatha a nurse for the Union  
> But  
> Baz was my only Confederate??  
> So, now you all have Confederate Agatha  
> ALSO  
> THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE POSITIVE FEEDBACK  
> YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING


	3. Chapter 3

Simon marched in time with his crew, the sounds of thousands of boots hitting the ground causing a killer migraine to form. Simon rubbed his temples and screwed his eyes shut, hoping the headache would go away by the time they broke for camp.

"H- hey!! Watch it!" Simon's eyes flew open as he bumped into Soldier Jaeger, who had been marching in front of him. Eren's exclamation had drawn the gaze of other soldiers, who stared at the duo. Eren glared at Simon as he tried to sputter out an apology.

"I'm so- shit, sorry, Eren- FUCK!" Simon mentally slapped himself and took a breath. "Sorry, Eren. I just spaced out."

Eren's face softened and he clapped Simon on the shoulder. "Hey, you alright, man? You've been out of it all day," He said gently - well, as gently as Eren could. Simon nodded and replied, "Yeah, just tired."

Eren made a disbelieving face, but dropped it, turned around, and continued marching. Simon breathed a sigh of relief as the curious eyes withdrew from his face, disliking having had all of the attention on him.

"Hey..." Simon looked to the right at Penn, who was looking at him with a concerned look.

"Yeah, Penn? What's up?" Simon said nonchalantly, though he knew what Penn was going to ask.

"What's wrong, Si? I know something is. You'd never bump into _Eren Jaeger_ unless something really big was going on."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED-"

"Eren, enough!!"

Surgeon Armin Arlert and Union Spy Mikasa Ackerman grabbed Eren's arms and frog marched him to the front of the lines after the latter had whirled around, having heard Penn's comment. As they walked away, Armin looked over his shoulder and mouthed, "Sorry!" at Simon and Penn. Simon flashed him a thumbs up and mouthed back, "Don't worry about it!"

Penn sighed and turned back to Simon. "As I was saying, I know something's up. Talk to me."

Simon took a deep breath and looked at Penn. He was Simon's best friend- had been since they were three years old. The two didn't keep secrets from each other.

"Well, there's... when we were running away..... you know how we were- ah, shit." Simon couldn't find a way to form the words he was trying to say, so he just blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Eyes. Grey eyes. That's what's been bothering me."

Penn scrunched his brow and looked at Simon in confusion. "Eyes?? What eyes? Who's? Commander Levi's eyes are grey, but why would that bother-"

"No, not Commander Levi's eyes, Penn." Simon hesitated for a moment, then looked down and whispered, "They were a Confederate's eyes."

Simon waited for Penn to start exclaiming, but was instead met with silence. Simon brought his head up, inch by inch, expecting to see Penn's eyes wide with horror. Instead, his head was cocked to its side and he was staring at Simon.

"And this is an issue.... why?? Lots of people have grey eyes. Levi, like we said before. OH, and Mikasa, and Nurse Canigula's, and-"

"Penn! It's an issue because... the battle ended two days ago, and I can't stop thinking about them. I've been having _dreams_ , Penn. About a pair of grey eyes... beautiful ones."

Penn's eyes grew round as saucers, and he gasped. " _SIMON SNOW!"_ He yelled loudly, once again attracting the annoyed gaze of their fellow soldiers.

"Keep..... it..... down!" Simon whispered through gritted teeth, and smiled politely at the men until their gazes fell forward again.

"You have a _crush_ on a _Confederate?!_ " Penn whisper-yelled, waving his arms through the air.

"It's... not a _crush_ , exactly..." Simon trailed off.

"Aww, bullshit, Si. YOU have a cru-ushhh!!" Penn said in a sing-song voice.

"This is why I don't tell you this shit, dude."

"Simon has a _crushhhhh!_ Simon has a _crushhhhhhhhh!_ " Penn sang jovially.

"WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT IS THIS??  
> Do I spot some BMC and SnK cameos???
> 
> Yes.  
> Yes I do.
> 
> I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!! First I had to go to the fair with my girlfriend, then I got grounded (-.-), then this weekend I was at a beach cabin with my family- yeah, I've been swamped.  
> Thank you all so much for the positive feedback on this!! You are all amazing. I hope you like this chapter, even though it's mainly a filler.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work.  
> I am TERRIFIED.  
> Please leave any and all criticism for me!


End file.
